Sometimes random, occasionally planned, frequently skewed, seldom monumental thoughts and musings by the old guy on the "back half" of a pretty cool life journey.

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Life lessons

like most athletes who compete on a high level, my son has been going through a difficult period of competition, performance, defeat, frustration, disappointment, and confusion. it's just part of the game, as they say.

we talked on the phone and told me that god had reached down and used his difficulties to teach him (again) some of the basic life lessons that we wrestle with every day of our existence...whether we are athletes or wannabes. it happened to come from an unexpected source of truth: espn.

most sports fans are aware of the fate that was dropped on the university of michigan football team the first week of the season. they were beaten by 1-aaappalachian state university in an epic battle that became an instant classic and sent sports writers and fans around the globe looking for a greater upset in the history of sport. i'm pretty sure nobody has found one.

the following week they were beaten, again. this time by a team of their stature, but certainly not of their reputation. come on...oregon makes us think of hippies and rain. unlike the land of the fooball gods in michigan!

needless to say, the coach of michigan has had an onslaught of attacks from the michigan faithful, as well well as every sports pundit this side of vinceLombardi's tombstone. but in the midst of incredible opposition and criticism, lloydcarr has remained solid. in an interview, he said some words that inspired my son to remember some simple principles to live by:

Don't blame others.

Don't make excuses.

Get up and do something.

i don't think i've ever heard a preacher say it better. you know, living the spiritual life isn't really all that spiritual...

on another note, i will be heading to the great land of texas haters for the next week on my yearly journey to the colorado wilderness with boat load of younger youth ministers for mentoring and encouragement. no technology for a week...anybody want to join the "fast"?

2 comments:

luke
said...

Funny guys like us that absorb themselves in sports. We live and die with our teams. Whether it is the team we play for or the team root for. Felt like my world had ended last week when the Aggies were embrassed in front of what seemed like the entire world. Now my world is great again because the Yanks have clinched a berth in the playoffs (13th straight if anyone is counting). Thankfully for us God doesn't judge us the way we do our teams. His love is constant and never falters.